


In You I Find My Strength

by alanna_the_lionheart



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Angst, CEO felicity, Caring, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Encouragement, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Future Fic, Hurt/Comfort, Love, One Shot, Romance, Short & Sweet, Support, Supportive Oliver, arrow season 4, doubting felicity, spec fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-25
Updated: 2015-08-25
Packaged: 2018-04-17 03:12:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4650051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alanna_the_lionheart/pseuds/alanna_the_lionheart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s Felicity’s first day as CEO of Palmer Tech…and she’s terrified. Faced with the prospect of being in charge of hundreds of people and running a company, old issues with self-doubt and her sense of worth resurface. But luckily for her, she doesn’t have to face them alone anymore. Oliver’s there to offer her the support and encouragement that she’s always given him, and Felicity finds a new strength within herself because of him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In You I Find My Strength

* * *

**In You I Find My Strength**

 

In recent years, Felicity Smoak has gotten used to wearing dresses to work, but today she’s trying something a little bit different. Today she’s switched out her bright beautiful dresses for a sensible black skirt and a pale pink button-up blouse.

 

But as she stands in front of her bedroom mirror, she finds her fingers stumbling clumsily over the buttons of the shirt.

 

It’s Felicity’s first official day as CEO of Palmer Technologies…and she’s terrified.

 

“Frack,” she curses softly as she loses her hold on the top button for what must be the tenth time.

 

She mumbles quietly under her breath.

 

“Stupid fingers. Stupid buttons.”

 

She just manages to get the top button halfway into the hole, and she’s ready to pump her fist in the air in triumph, but her fingers are trembling even worse now than when she started getting dressed ten minutes ago, and she manages to shake the button loose again at the last second.

 

“Oh, COME ON!” she growls in frustration, gripping the sides of the blouse tightly in her hands and shaking them. She tries to take a deep breath to calm herself, but it catches in her throat, and she feels a familiar sensation of panic starting to build in her chest as tears prick at her eyes.

 

She’s just about to rip the shirt off entirely when a soft voice speaks from behind her.

 

“Here,” he says gently. “Let me help you.”

 

She feels the warm, familiar touch of Oliver’s hands on her shoulders and she lets out a sigh of relief. He rubs her shoulders gently before ghosting his fingers down her arms and gripping her hands, one in each of his. He squeezes her hands tightly and she squeezes back before he reaches up to the top of her blouse and starts buttoning it for her.

 

Felicity watches his hands as they work, slowly and deftly, not a tremble or a shake to be seen. She finds herself marveling, not for the first time, at how hands that once snapped necks like twigs can be so loving and gentle when they touch _her_.

 

When he’s buttoned the last button, he moves his left arm down and wraps it around her waist. He moves his right hand slowly up her stomach, grazes gently over her breasts, and undoes the top button. She wonders briefly why he’s undoing his own work, but then he carefully moves his hand inside her shirt and rests his palm against her chest…right over her heart.

 

Oliver pulls her back against his bare chest, resting his cheek against hers, and Felicity leans back into him and smiles. He’s so close that she can actually _feel him_ smile back, and he leans over and softly kisses the top of her head, his lips lingering for a long time, but not long enough. When he pulls away, he rests his head on top of hers.  They stand there silently for awhile, and Felicity welcomes the feel of him so close to her. His body is warm against hers, humming with life, and she can feel his heart beating against her shoulder. His presence soothes her in a way nothing else can, and she lets out a deep sigh as some of the tension starts to leave her body.

 

“Are you okay?” he asks her softly, finally breaking the silence.

 

She takes awhile to answer, unsure of what to say.

 

“I guess so,” she finally responds, but her voice is shaking and she knows she’s not fooling him.

 

“Felicity,” Oliver soothes, the barest hint of disapproval in his voice, and she marvels over how her name sounds like so much more than one word when it comes from his lips.

 

Felicity sighs quietly. She can never hide anything from Oliver. He knows her too well, cares about her too much.

 

She lets him hold her, wonders what to say, where to start. At some point her hands wander down to the arm he has wrapped around her waist, and she clutches his forearm tightly, as though she’s looking for the strength she needs to say what’s on her mind.

 

Oliver bends down and pecks her on the cheek before resting his chin on her shoulder. His breath is warm against her face when he speaks.

 

“You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to. But I’m here for you, Felicity. Always.”

 

Her breath catches in her throat at the sheer amount of love and sincerity in his voice…and she finds her strength in him _._

And before she can stop herself, she speaks.

 

“I’m terrified, Oliver,” she states bluntly, and she feels his body tense for just a moment at her admission. She’s rarely this open with him about her feelings, and even though he asked her to share, she knows it must shake him. But the moment is over before it’s begun, and the hand he has pressed to her chest starts to rub against her in slow, soothing circles.

 

She focuses on the feel of his body wrapped around hers, and when she starts, she finds that she can’t stop.

 

“I’ve never been in charge of anyone before, Oliver. What if I’m a horrible boss? What if I’m too hard on everyone, or not hard enough? Ray was so good with people. Everyone respected him and spoke well of him and I have so much to live up to. What if I ruin everything he worked so hard to build? What if I run this company into the ground? What if I fail? What if I’m not strong enough? What if-”

 

“Hey,” Oliver whispers, his voice firm but gentle, and suddenly Felicity’s aware of how much she’s shaking; of how fast she’s breathing and how hard her heart is beating, and oh god, she’s staring to panic.

 

“Oliver.” She gasps his name out between harsh breaths, her hands scrabbling at his arm in search of something to hold onto, and suddenly his hands are gripping hers tightly and he's the only thing keeping her standing.

 

“It’s okay,” he assures her. “You’re okay. Just breathe.”

 

She can’t speak, and so she nods instead. She holds his hands tightly and tries to get her breathing under control.

 

“I’m here,” Oliver reminds her, pressing a kiss to the side of her neck. “I’m right here. You’re safe.”

 

Felicity nods again, and she focuses on the feel of him pressed closely to her. He’s breathing slowly and deeply. In and out. In and out. His breath is warm against her cheek, his heart beating slowly and calmly against her skin, his body strong and solid behind her.

 

She breathes with him, slowly and deeply. Nothing exists in the world but for their breathing, and no one else matters but them.

 

Slowly but surely, she calms her body down. When she feels like she can finally stand on her own again, she lets go of his hands and steps away from him.

 

She turns around to face him, and the care and concern she finds in his eyes makes her feel stronger again.

 

“Okay?” he asks her gently, and she smiles up at him and nods.

 

“Yeah,” she responds, and he smiles back at her.

 

“Good. Why don’t we sit down for a minute?” he asks.

  
Felicity nods gratefully, and he takes her hand and leads her over to their bed. They sit down together, and Oliver reaches over to the nightstand and grabs the glass of water that she keeps there every night.

 

“Here.” He offers it to her with his free hand - the other has yet to let go of her - and she accepts the water gratefully.

 

She sips it slowly, and finds that she’s starting to feel better. She downs the whole thing and hands him back the glass with a quiet, “thank you.”

 

Oliver puts the empty glass back on the nightstand and turns to look at her. She knows this look; he’s assessing her, making sure she’s okay. She feels her cheeks flush under his close scrutiny, and Oliver shakes his head slightly and smiles fondly at her. He lets go of her hand and leans in slowly, grabbing her face gently between his hands and kissing her softly. Felicity leans into the kiss, lips caressing his, and she runs her hands up his arms and grips his shoulders, reveling in how solid and powerful he feels under her touch.

 

He’s so _strong_ ; he always has been. She’s surrounded by strong people every day. How can she ever hope to live up to them?

 

Oliver pulls away from the kiss first, lips still touching hers, but just barely. He whispers her name against her lips and she shudders slightly at the feel of his breath ghosting over her skin.

 

She whispers his name back, opening her eyes, and when he finally opens _his_ eyes, there’s so much love gazing back at her that she wonders at how she doesn’t fall to pieces under the weight of it.

 

Oliver pulls away from her, and they resettle on the edge of the bed so that they’re facing each other, each with one leg on the bed and one leg off. They hold hands, his right knee touching her left while their dangling legs sway gently against each other. She feels like a teenager again, heart racing at the smallest of touches from the boy she likes, and she loves how something so simple can mean so much.

 

She stares down at her hands in his, and she only looks up when he asks her to.

 

“Felicity…look at me.”

 

She does, and her heart swells with love for the man in front of her as he says:

 

“You’re going to make a _great_ CEO.”

 

And yet despite her love for him, despite his conviction, there’s a sense of doubt she just can’t shake.

 

“How can you possibly know that, Oliver?”

 

Oliver smiles at her. “Well, if there’s one thing I know about Ray Palmer it’s that the man is smart. He signed the company over to _you_ for a reason.”

 

She frowns, pondering the truth of what he's said, but he moves on before she has a chance to respond.

 

“And for another thing, you were pretty much doing my job for me when I was supposed to be CEO of Queen Consolidated.”

 

Felicity thinks back on all the times she covered for Oliver, all the work she did in his stead, and she can’t disagree with him on that point. And yet….

 

“It’s not the same thing, and you know it. Now that I’m CEO I’ll be in charge of everyone. I’ve never been in charge of _anything_ before.”

 

This time, Oliver actually laughs, and Felicity’s ready to smack him, but then he says:

 

“You tell me what to do all the time.”

 

“I…wha…that’s not....” She mumbles, voice trailing off, but Oliver just shakes his head at her.

 

“It’s true and you know it. What do you think you’re doing when you’re on the comms every night, telling me where to go to catch the bad guy, or telling me when to run, or what to say?"

 

Felicity smiles as a memory surfaces in her mind.

 

“‘Ask him what color his shoes are,’” she says with a small laugh, and Oliver nods at her.

 

“You think that just because you’re sitting behind a computer while we’re out in the streets that you aren’t doing anything, but you couldn’t be more wrong.”

 

Felicity will never get over how well Oliver can know exactly what she’s thinking. It scares her and thrills her all at the same time.

 

He reaches up with one hand and gently caresses her cheek. She leans into his touch with a sigh, but she doesn’t close her eyes. She looks back at him, hanging on his every word.

 

“You do more work for the team than any of us. You’re the one who stays up all night running computer programs, or looking through hundreds of photos in search of just _one._ You’re the one who keeps finding new ways of doing things. You use that big, beautiful brain of yours to keep everything working and running smoothly.”

 

Oliver runs his hand over the side of her head absently before bringing it back to her face.

 

“And you’re not just good with computers, Felicity. You keep _us_ running smoothly, too. You make sure we stay on track; that we’re a well oiled machine…even when we aren’t always getting along.”

 

She knows he’s thinking about John when he says this, and his gaze flickers away from hers, but only for a second. When he looks back at her, there’s a fierce determination in his eyes.

 

“You’re the backbone of the team, Felicity. You’re the heart of everything. You are _strong;_ stronger than you know.” He reaches up with his other hand, and he’s gripping her face tightly once more, forcing her to look at him, to hear what he has to say.

 

“Even if you can’t see it, you need to hear it...because I know, beyond the shadow of a doubt....” He pulls her head down and plants a soft kiss against her forehead. She leans into the touch, savors it, and when he pulls away and looks at her she’s surprised to see that there are tears shining in his eyes. “You’re a _hero_ , Felicity. You’re _my_ hero.”

 

Her heart skips a beat, her breath catching in her throat, and she doesn’t think she could ever love him more than she loves him right now.

 

“Oliver….” She doesn’t know what to say. What _can_ she say to that? There are no words anywhere near good enough to say to him right now; no words good enough to thank him for what he has given her.

 

And so, for the first time in so long, Felicity finds herself speechless. She shakes her head and smiles at him, tears gathering in her own eyes now, too. And when Oliver smiles back at her she leans in, wraps her arms tightly around him, and pulls him into a hug.

 

Oliver wraps his arms around her in return, and they sit like that for a long time. They don’t say anything. They just sit quietly and hold onto each other.

 

In the end, the only thing that pulls her away from him is the alarm on her phone buzzing. If she doesn’t leave soon, she’s going to be late for her first day of work.

 

Felicity sighs as she pulls back from the hug, but her hands drift down to his, grasping them tightly.

 

“Thank you,” she whispers, and even if the words don’t feel like enough they are the best that she can give him.

 

Oliver smiles softly back at her. His eyes wander down to their intertwined hands for just a second before he looks at her once more.

 

“Felicity…I don’t know what the future holds for either of us. But I do know two things.”

 

She laughs slightly at his use of their now familiar phrase, and she nods at him to continue.

 

“The first is that…whatever it is…we’ll face it _together_.”

 

“And the second thing?” she asks, her voice trembling slightly at the depth of emotion coursing through her.

 

“ _I believe in you_ ,” he whispers, and he shakes his head ever so slightly. “I always have.”

 

She can’t help herself. She sits up on her knees, practically climbing into his lap, and she kisses him again.

 

...and again.

 

For almost a minute, she forgets what time it is and where she needs to go. She only remembers when she hears him moan underneath her, and she finally stops kissing him because she knows that if she doesn’t stop now she’s going to be REALLY late for work.

 

He groans when she pulls away, but she just laughs at him, smacking lightly at his hands, which have somehow managed to find their way underneath her skirt.

 

“Oliver…” she warns him playfully, and finally he laughs and pulls his hands back, but not before getting in a good squeeze of her thighs.

  
“You should get going or you’ll be late,” he says teasingly, as though it’s all _her_ fault.

 

She shakes her head and stands, smoothing out her skirt and her blouse. When she buttons her top button, she finds that her hands are steady.

 

“Now where are my-”

 

“Shoes?” Oliver offers, holding out the pair of heels she’d set out on the bed.

 

“Yeah,” she responds, and she grabs them from him and sits down on the edge of the bed to put them on. As she starts to tie them, Oliver fumbles around on the dresser for something. When he turns around she’s on her feet, shoes tied, and he grabs her hand and opens up her palm, putting something into it.

 

“Don’t forget these,” he says, and Felicity looks down to find a pair of earrings in her hand. They’re a dark green jade, and they’re shaped like fern leaves. Oliver bought them for her three months ago in a little seaside boutique off the coast of Maine.

 

Felicity smiles at him as she puts them in her ears. Once they’re in, she stands in front of the mirror and looks at herself. The earrings shine against her neck. Her hair’s pulled back in her signature ponytail, her heels are high but not too high, and she’s opted for her glasses today. The blouse is buttoned up perfectly, and the color looks good on her. She smiles at her reflection and takes a deep breath.

 

“You’re going to be _great_ ,” Oliver assures her, coming up behind her once more and wrapping his arms around her middle in a tight hug.

 

And Felicity’s surprised to find that she believes it, too.

 

She turns around in his arms and hugs him once more before pulling back. She walks away to gather her things together when his voice stops her.

 

“I was wrong, you know.”

 

She turns back to him with a frown.

 

“About what?” she asks.

 

“There are actually _three_ things I know.”

 

“Oh, yeah?” she questions softly, playing along. “And what’s the third thing?”

 

“You already know what it is,” he tells her gently, and her heart flutters in her chest.

 

Of course she knows what it is. He doesn’t even need to say it. He reminds her of it everyday in moments like these.

 

And in this particular moment, Felicity finds that _she_ needs to say it.

 

“I love you, Oliver,” she tells him with a smile.

 

Oliver smiles back at her, and his face lights up.

 

“I love you, too.”

 

Felicity grabs her bag from the foot of the bed. As she throws it over her shoulder, her hands brush against the buttons of her blouse, and she finds herself grinning mischievously.

 

“Oliver?” she asks playfully as she turns back to him.

 

“Yeah?”

 

She fingers the buttons on her blouse, flicking one of them between her fingers.

 

“Ya know, you did such a good job buttoning this for me, and I was wondering….”

 

He quirks an eyebrow at her, clearly pondering where she could be going with this.

 

“…will you help me take it off later?”

 

Oliver stares at her, and when it clicks she can practically see the gears turning in his head.

 

Finally, he shakes his head at her and smirks.

 

“It’s a date.”

 

* * *

 

Later that night, Felicity comes home from a surprisingly good first day at work to find Oliver waiting for her with dinner on the table, a bottle of her favorite wine, and a pint of mint chip ice cream for dessert.

 

In the end, all of the effort he put into helping her into her blouse that morning is quickly forgotten in his haste to get her out of it.

 

Less than an hour after Felicity gets home, Oliver completely destroys the buttons on her blouse…and, being a considerate boyfriend, he offers to buy her another one.

 

_…the end…_


End file.
